Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Tech: Chainsaw Robot

A chainsaw robot visited Cologne last week for a single purpose: to
carve stools. The robot is nameless, but the furniture it produces on
its own is called the 7xStool, which was designed by Tibor Weissmahr and
Tom Pawlofsky. The latter programmed the robot to carve two 7xStools
from a single log, and the robot performed this feat twice a day during
live performances for visitors to Passagen 2013 design week.

Both designers are alumni of the Karlsruhe University of Arts and
Design, and the 7xStool is part of a collection called kkaarrlls, which
highlights creations from students at the university. Alongside the
robot-made stool, four other kkaarrlls designs were shown off in Cologne
as part of a partnership with German company Echtwald, which works to
help restore commercially forested lands. While the chainsaw robot may
be an impressive stunt, the stools created from the presentations were
sold directly to audience members — though they may want to sand the
stools down before they use them for the first time.